A system comprises a model generation system and an analyzer. The model generation system is configured to modify a model of a laminated composite structure to meet a user defined objective and to meet at least one of user defined performance constraints or user defined manufacturing constraints by changing at least one ply characteristic of at least one ply of the model while maintaining ply boundary geometry constraints for each ply of the model. The ply boundary geometry constraints of the model generation system include a number of defined ply boundary geometries each described by a respective mathematical function. The analyzer is configured to return objective values or constraint function values for at least one ply of the model.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A computer system comprising: a model generation system configured to modify an input model of a laminated composite structure to meet a user defined objective and user defined constraints while changing a ply shape of at least one ply of the input model to conform to ply boundary geometry constraints for each ply of a modified model of the laminated composite structure, wherein the ply boundary geometry constraints correspond to a number of defined ply boundary geometries suitable for each ply of the modified model where each of the number of defined ply boundary geometries is described by a respective mathematical function; and an analyzer configured to return data for use by the model generation system to determine when an optimization of the user defined objective is complete for the modified model.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein one of the defined ply boundary geometries comprises a rectangular shape.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user defined objective includes minimizing at least one of a volume, a boundary length, a manufacturing cost, or a manufacturing time.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user defined constraints include at least one of a maximum strain, a stability of the laminated composite structure, a resistance to strikes on the laminated composite structure, maximum stress, far field stress, large notch failure load, structure stiffness, or structure strength.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user defined constraints include at least one of a boundary length, a manufacturing cost, or a manufacturing time.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one ply of the modified model is further constrained by at least one of a fiber angle, a ply location, or a ply size.
7. The system of claim 1 further comprising: an automated fiber placement head configured to form the laminated composite structure based on the modified model.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user defined objective includes strain information.
9. A method comprising: obtaining, by a computer system, an input model of a laminated composite structure; modifying, by the computer system, the input model of the laminated composite structure to meet a user defined objective and user defined manufacturing constraints while changing a ply shape of at least one ply of the input model to conform to ply boundary geometry constraints for each ply of a modified model of the laminated composite structure, wherein the ply boundary geometry constraints include a number of defined ply boundary geometries suitable for each ply of the modified model where each of the number of defined ply boundary geometries is described by a respective mathematical function; performing a finite element analysis, by an analyzer of the computer system, to determine when an optimization of the user defined objective and user defined manufacturing constraints are complete for the modified model; and forming the laminated composite structure based on the modified model.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the modifying comprises: modifying iteratively until the modified model meets the user defined objective.
11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: modifying, by the computer system, the input model by changing at least one ply characteristic of at least one ply of the input model while maintaining the ply boundary geometry constraints for each ply of the modified model.
12. The method of claim 9 further comprising: forming the laminated composite structure with an automated fiber placement head.
13. A computer system for optimizing a design of laminated composite structures, comprising: a model generation system configured to modify an input model of a laminated composite structure to meet a design parameter while changing a ply shape of at least one ply of the input model from an irregular ply shape to conform to one of a number of defined ply shapes utilized as constraints for each ply of a modified model of the laminated composite structure, wherein each defined ply shape of the number of defined ply shapes is defined by a respective mathematical function and the irregular ply shape is not one of the number of defined ply shapes; and an analyzer configured to return data for use by the model generation system to determine when an optimization of the design parameter is complete for the modified model.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the design parameter includes minimizing at least one of a volume, a boundary length, a manufacturing cost, or a manufacturing time.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the design parameter includes at least one of a maximum strain, a stability of the laminated composite structure, a resistance to strikes on the laminated composite structure, a maximum stress, a far field stress, a large notch failure load, a structure stiffness, or a structure strength.
16. The system of claim 13 , wherein at least one ply of the modified model is further constrained by at least one of a fiber angle, a ply location, or a ply size.
17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the defined ply shapes include a rectangle, an ellipse, an oval, a spline, or a triangle.
18. The system of claim 13 , further comprising: an automated fiber placement head configured to form the laminated composite structure based on the modified model.
19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the model generation system is configured to modify iteratively until the modified model meets the design parameter.
20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the design parameter requires each ply of the modified model to be symmetric about a center of the laminated composite structure.
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March 28, 2017
November 3, 2020
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